• Genomics
• Tumor biology
• Immunology
• Metabolism
• Molecular & cell biology
• Tumor progression and metastases
• Animal models
• Therapeutics
• Imaging

The goal of our laboratory is to understand the role of oncogenic mutations in promoting tumorigenesis and progression of head and neck cancers and to exploit this knowledge to develop effective targeted therapies for head and neck cancer patients.

Specifically, our research group focuses on: (1) large-scale analyses of genomic and epigenetic alterations in head and neck cancers and understanding the functional mechanisms of gain-of-function TP53 mutations in the promotion of metastasis, cancer metabolism, and tumor immunosuppressive microenvironment, and immunotherapy resistance of head and neck cancers; (2) development of genetically engineered mouse models of oral cancer, which allows us to study tumor immunity at different carcinogenic stages of head and neck cancers; (3) developing novel targeted therapies aimed at recurrent and/or treatment-resistant HNSCC with the major focus on discovering synthetic lethality of drugs that target DNA damage repair and replication stress together with immunotherapy in these tumor types.